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Dell PowerEdge FX vs Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Dell PowerEdge FX
Ranking in Rack Servers
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
Ranking in Rack Servers
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
211
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (3rd), Data Center Networking (4th), Blade Servers (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Rack Servers category, the mindshare of Dell PowerEdge FX is 1.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is 27.5%, down from 28.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rack Servers
 

Featured Reviews

MarcGaethofs - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly stable product that seamlessly integrates with the storage portfolio and provides excellent technical support
We have a lot of questions during the order process. They get answered well. The machines are ready to go when we switch on the power. It will depend on our configuration. If we don't make an order with all the configuration specs in it, we’ll get nothing. We will have to do it all by ourselves. Which isn't a problem, but it will take longer. The solution is deployed on-premise, but we're transitioning to more hybrid solutions. We have a team for storage and connectivity. We also have a team for switching and networking. We need three to five enterprise system engineers to build a normal-sized cluster with 500 users. We also need a project manager.
Syed Masuood - PeerSpot reviewer
Handles workloads and diverse applications efficiently
We have a lot of VMs on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. On a single server, we have probably hosted 14 or 15 VMs. Out of these, 8 to 10 are continuously running, and four of them are backup VMs, so it can handle a good workload. For cybersecurity, it is only accessible on the intranet; it is not accessible through the web. We use it for local development purposes, and it is behind our firewall. Its security is strong. We handle a lot of test data for government and confidential customers. It is safe and strong locally. We have not experienced any security issues. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime if we need to replace a hard disk, instead of completely shutting a server, there is a hot swap feature. It is quite good in that aspect. Usually, for any activity, there is a downtime of about 30 minutes. It has saved a lot of time. We have tried AI workloads for a development environment for a government customer in Singapore. The servers are hosted in Singapore. It is an ML-based engine with AI. It is a government project where data is processed, and we run it on Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. The benefit of running AI workloads on PowerEdge Servers is that it is easy to allocate memory. The application we are running is memory intensive. It is pretty easy to scale memory and storage.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature is its stability."
"The product seamlessly integrates with the storage portfolio."
"The setup is straightforward. It can take anywhere from an hour to half a day."
"It has extremely high performance, and it is easy to manage."
"The console and user-friendly UI of Dell PowerEdge FX are the most valuable features. Its interface is easy to understand even for non-technical users."
"The features that I have found most valuable are that it has very robust servers and a very heavy load. We've been working on servers now for 10 years and those servers are still up and running. Those servers are still very powerful until today."
"The remote management is great."
"The best feature is PowerEdge's ability to stack up eight blade servers in one 2U chassis."
"The most valuable features are resiliency, reliability, easy installation, maintenance, and compatibility with other systems or servers."
"When it comes to handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, the PowerEdge Rack Servers are fit for purpose. They do what they need to do."
"You are provided with excellent instructions."
"The enduring stability and longevity offered by Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers stand out as their most invaluable features."
"I believe Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can grow with our business."
"Nowadays, iDRAC is very important. It is one of the features that we use the most because we do not always have physical access to our machines. iDRAC is a tool that we use daily. If we did not have it, it would be very complicated to manage the machines. This is a great feature."
"This solution keeps us up and running and reduces downtime. PowerEdge helped us to reduce data processing time. The PowerEdge systems management frameworks enabled us to progress towards full automation."
"Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped reduce our downtime by a lot."
 

Cons

"It should have more simplified management. It is a common problem where vendors think that they have simplified a solution, but the users don't look at it in the same way. A vendor thinks that there are only ten steps for a task, but we consider them as many steps. It should also have more support for NVMe. For high performance and speed, there should also be more network cards for the fiber channel and ethernet."
"There are times when a part might break down and we need to have Dell replace it."
"The product must provide more integration."
"The positioning of the power supply is not ideal. Both of them are on the same side, so you need to untie the cabling when you're installing the server. Another thing is storage separation. The storage can only be used by a particular server blade. I want the ability to use a storage unit for more than one server."
"In terms of the cost, it is a little bit high, meaning, there is some difference in the cost compared to the equivalent product with HP servers."
"They could improve from a manufacturing perspective."
"I think that Dell has full documentation on their products, but it needs to be improved for this one."
"When it comes to Dell PowerEdge FX, the area of concern revolves around the delivery time where improvements are required."
"I would like to see a virtual view of the solution after creating and configuring it."
"I'd appreciate seeing more options in terms of expandability for certain Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers models. The expandability issues I've experienced are mainly with the 700 series of the R series chassis, primarily around what can fit in for PCI expansion cards."
"They can consider making them smaller in physical size but retain the same quality and the same security."
"Being in Belgium, which is a small country, we might be considered too small for Dell since we only have 40 Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. This sometimes affects our ability to receive deployment support."
"The aftermarket price for RAM modules and CPU cores is expensive. If I want to switch out a CPU or processor inside of my Dell PowerEdge to gain more cores, which increases my performance for VMware, the aftermarket price is so expensive that we typically take that box, retire an older Dell PowerEdge, and then buy a brand new one."
"In terms of energy use, it takes up a lot."
"Lately, we feel that we need an improvement in our servers. Surprisingly, we have seen some servers here that do meet these characteristics. They are slightly smaller servers."
"The specs for the benchmarks are very good, but the firmware and software are lacking. There are some issues with the Linux kernel and the long-term support (LTS) for some of the firmware's dependencies. It is causing the kernel to dump. The support for the Linux brands isn't optimal. We would like them to optimize the kernel drivers for benchmarks."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of Dell PowerEdge FX depends on the configuration we are using. We usually pay $5,000 to $10,000 based on the configuration, including RAM and storage."
"I rate the product price a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
"The price of the license is expensive."
"Payments are generally made towards the perpetual-based licensing costs attached to the solution, but people can also opt for subscription-based licenses."
"The price of Dell PowerEdge FX is affordable, and when compared to other solutions, such as Lenovo and HPE it is less expensive. There are any extra costs other than the standard solution."
"Compared to other brands, this solution is the cheapest. I would rate the pricing as a five out of five."
"We have a contract with the OEM of the equipment for licenses, so we possess all OEM licenses for the Dell software. We have licenses for Linux and VMware software, with a special price and an annual contract for updates of Linux and VMware. Additionally, we have an Oracle database on the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers."
"The main reason I choose Dell there is cost. Dell is cheaper than HPE. Why would I want to pay a premium for an HPE product when I'm getting the same amount of support, the same amount of data protection, and the same amount of performance from Dell?"
"The product's pricing is not good."
"The pricing for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is on par with everything else at the moment."
"There is room for improvement in making it more cost-effective."
"Dell is priced better than alternative solutions."
"The pricing is very good because there are a lot of types of PowerEdge Rack Servers. You have the R540, R640, and R740. The prices are very scalable through the specific server, e.g., small businesses can take the R640 while large businesses can take the R740 or R840. Thus, Dell technologies touch on every organization."
"The server is a one-time purchase, but the support is on a subscription basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
18%
Computer Software Company
11%
Media Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Dell PowerEdge FX?
The product's initial setup phase was simple and easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerEdge FX?
The cost of Dell PowerEdge FX depends on the configuration we are using. We usually pay $5,000 to $10,000 based on the configuration, including RAM and storage.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerEdge FX?
The system is good, but compared to open-source and assembled servers, it is somewhat costly. If it were cheaper, it would be even better. I would prefer the next releases of Dell PowerEdge FX to b...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
What do you like most about Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
It has helped us reduce unplanned downtime by 20% to 30%.
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
Mainly, I would like to improve the speed of storage response. We would like to improve our performance by using disks without rotation. The price is better now, and I think it will be better in th...
 

Also Known As

PowerEdge FX
PowerEdge R
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tracewell, Govers, AXA ASSISTANCE ITALIA
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Dell PowerEdge FX vs. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.